On the Streets
by The Lost Hokage
Summary: (DISCONTINUED) A gang known as the Black Feathers has been terrorizing Gamindustri, holding strong influence in all four nations. After a grand theft comitted in Leanbox, the police forces of the nations as well as IF and Compa decide that they must put an end to the Black Feathers, once and for all.
1. The Black Feathers

I was rather disappointed with the lack of attention the mortal (as in, non-CPU or main antagonist) characters received. So, I decided to remedy this by writing a story with little to no CPU presence! There will be no sightings of ASJ, very few of Neptune and Nepgear, none of Blanc, Rom, or Ram, only slightly more out of Noire and Uni, and just a little bit less out of Vert. I hope you enjoy!

It was a rather hot day in Leanbox, with many citizens taking shelter from the heat underneath the shade of the massive arch in the center of the nation. All along the side of the street, vendors sold lemonade and other refreshments to weary passerby, making considerable profit from this venture. Due to the heat of the day, most people opted to wear light clothing such as t-shirts and shorts, but one strange character wore official business attire in a grey trench coat and pants as well as a grey fedora that he occasionally took off for the sole purpose of flipping in his hand. He had a red tie that was firmly pocketed in his shirt, as well as black shoes that made a classical tapping sound when he walked. Altogether, his choice in apparel was somewhat strange given the weather, but most people who passed him by simply chocked it up to a business meeting or something of the sort.

He looked down at his watch and tapped the display twice. Unlike most people in the nation, he wore an analog watch, and a very gaudy one at that. The circular display was rimmed with gold, and the strap was entirely made out of the same material. He wore it one loop too loose, allowing him to shake his wrist and move the watch to wipe away any built-up sweat on his forearm. The hands were an elegant black and pointed to Roman numerals etched in the same shade of gold as the body of the watch, signaling that it was currently 4:57. From the position of the sun in the sky, he gathered that this figure was of the antemeridian variety, meaning that he would have to appear very soon to an important meeting.

Slowly, he stood up and began making his way towards the eastern end of the arch. This was a strange maneuver, as the only thing present at this area was a dark alley frequently used by gangs to smoke and graffiti. Despite this, he moved with a purpose, keeping his suitcase firmly at his side. Luckily for him, nobody had attempted to steal this suitcase, since it contained very important materials for his meeting. It was beginning to become something of a burden, though, as its weight was not unremarkable.

"Finally…here." He groaned to release his building frustration as he stopped at his destination. He was now positioned in an alleyway directly next to a door leading into the ground. This door was not very remarkable, being a simple, dull shade of brown and having rust almost everywhere except for the handle and some other places randomly scattered around the plate.

He opened the door and stepped down, closing it behind him as lightly as possible to mitigate sound. As soon as he entered, he was surrounded by about ten men dressed similarly to him, all toting guns, some automatic, some semi-automatic. There was a small period of silence before the one who had just entered began to speak.

"Good work, boys. If I had been a cop, he'd have hit the floor before he coulda blinked." He set his suitcase down.

Everyone else lowered their guns and walked over. One of them spoke, "So boss. Whatcha got in the case this time?"

The boss unlatched the case to reveal several bars of gold and even more rolls of 5,000 credit bills. "All this? 50 grand, all fresh outta the Leanbox bank vault. Poor fellas didn't see it comin' from a mile away!"

Everyone laughed at this. One of the goons lit a cigarette before he spoke, "Good thing you got here without gettin' caught. Local fuzz have been goin' crazy for us! Basically ever' day's a new headline on the Black Feathers."

The boss closed the case again and began to walk. The goons made space for him as he did so. "Well, that just shows that you boys are pullin' your weight 'round here."

They walked into a central room with many refrigerators, presumably for alcohol, and many safes to store their ill-gotten gains. On the far wall, there sat a TV screen with only the news channel, broadcasting about the robbery.

"Thank you, Austin. A cursory report shows that the Leanbox central bank has been robbed by the infamous Black Feathers. Losses are currently estimated at around 50,000 Credits with more information pending. What questions does this raise about the defense system here in Leanbox, at least the branch dedicated to bank security?"

The boss lit his own cigarette. "I'll tell ya what it says: it's utter shit." The room erupted into laughter. "No joke. I waltzed in and out with half of their gold and they didn't even yell my name!"

The report continued, this time with Austin speaking. "…while we shouldn't jump to conclusions this early, one thing remains clear—it is the responsibility of any and all Leanbox citizens to report any activity that can even be remotely linked to the Black Feathers, especially concerning their leader, who we have chosen to dub 'Raven' for now."

The boss took a slow huff from his cigarette. "Raven, huh? Can't lie…the name suits me. Raven…" He menacingly took another huff.

The door opened once again, and everyone rushed to their spots once more. When they saw it was another similarly dressed man, they were at ease.

Raven walked over to see who had just walked in. His face lit up when he saw who it was. "Ay, my top gun Lewis! What valuables did ya steal this time?"

Lewis happily set down one of his two suitcases and unlatched it. An ominous red glow emerged from within. "Just as you ordered, boss. 5 kilos of pure, concentrated Anti-Shares. Enough to knock out the goddesses with just one bullet!"

Raven joyfully patted him on the back. "I'll be damned. How'd ya do it? Not many places to get this stuff outside of…untrustworthy third parties."

Lewis closed the case. "I had to haul my ass off walkin' around all four nations just ta get this shit! I know ya said this was important, but I dunno if it was *this* important."

Raven assured him, "Don't you worry 'bout a thing, Lewis. Ya did good collecting this stuff at all." He handed off the case to a goon, who placed the contents into a safe and locked it securely. Raven continued, "Now, what's in tha second one? You got some hard liquor or sumpin?"

Lewis smiled. "Actually, boss, it's just that. Lookee here." He opened the case, and inside were many bottles of Leanbox's finest alcohol, as well as some miscellaneous drugs. Everyone lit up upon seeing this. "30 bottles of the tastiest booze you can imagine, and 10 hits of the hardest drugs this nation's got ta offer. Whaddya say?"

Raven paused for a moment. "I'd say that you did a damn fine job out there, boy! Go in that main room and take some hits wit' the rest of the boys!"

Everyone cheered as they retreated to the main foyer, eager to taste the contraband drinks. Raven lagged behind, watching the door to ensure no unwanted visitors emerged from it. Once he was satisfied that nobody could penetrate the door without them having ample time to react, he went to the main room to partake in the festivities.

Happy, Raven slumped into a chair and put his feet on a table. "Let's have some fun, boys!"


	2. Lastation’s Wings

"Damnit. Another hit." Planeptune Guild agent IF was currently looking at the news broadcast of the theft in Leanbox. It was frustrating that nothing had yet been done about the Black Feathers, especially since it seemed as though they were getting more ambitious by the day. If caution was not taken, the Shares of the goddesses could be seriously affected.

The receptionist at the Guild looked at the screen with the same contempt as the agent. "Why haven't we done anything yet?! They're out there threatening innocent civilians and all we can do is sit and watch?!" He slammed his hand on the desk in anger.

IF opened her phone and looked at her text record. "I've tried talking to the police force of Planeptune, but they said that it'd be best to wait until they're hit again. Planeptune seems to be their lowest target, although I'm not sure why."

He wasn't hearing it. "Oh, so the 'protectors of the innocent' have decided to slack off because they aren't as affected?!" He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing, "You have a good track record for getting things done. Could you possibly go over to Leanbox and talk some sense into their police?"

"I want this to end as much as you do, but we can't act foolishly. It's possible that their police is already on the payroll. It'd explain the relative inactivity in their area."

The broadcast stopped short and moved to breaking news. "We interrupt your normal broadcast to bring you breaking news regarding the infamous Black Feathers gang. The leader, who has accepted the name of 'Raven', has gone on record and said that he will be moving to Lastation. As we all know, this is a huge risk, since moving their equipment would make them an easy target. Their motives remain unclear, but Raven said that he had 'taken what he wanted from Leanbox'. Citizens of Gamindustri, it is your duty to report any movement of the Black Feathers as soon as you see it."

The receptionist leaned his elbow on the desk. "Now would you look at that. They're going to make Lastation their bi—" He stopped himself. "I guess you don't have to catch a boat now. Mind going over there and giving an adequate warning to the police? Lord knows we have enough trouble already."

"I guess something is better than nothing. Alright, I'm off." IF stood up and began making her way towards Lastation, knowing full well the low odds of success. The Black Feathers were enough of a threat to be recognized regularly on national television, so it seemed unlikely that the police could stop them. Nevertheless, she continued on her way, hopeful that something could be done about the issue.

After about three hours of non-stop driving, IF stopped at the vehicular entrance gate to Lastation. The area was dominated by a large black arch made completely of metal, with bright red lights displaying the words 'WELCOME TO LASTATION'. Cars went in and out, although most of the traffic was flowing out of the nation. One of the border guards walked over to register IF, and thus a conversation began.

"If it isn't IF. What are you doing here?" The guard looked at her motorcycle's license plate and copied the number onto a digital form.

"I got a request from the Guild receptionist. It has to do with the Black Feathers."

He nodded. "Those guys, huh? Yeah, they've been causing trouble for everyone as of late. Lady Black Heart's going to be suitably pissed with their arrival here." He typed more things into the form.

"Well, let's hope something can be done about it here. Leanbox didn't seem too successful in their efforts." IF removed her helmet for the facial scan.

The guard chuckled. "Efforts, or lack thereof. Those guys didn't seem to do much when they swiped half of the gold from their bank." He finalized the form and handed IF a red ticket with the word 'ACCEPTED' printed in bold at the top. "Welcome to Lastation. And, good luck, agent."

IF nodded as she put her helmet back on and continued to drive into the nation. After the broadcast, most people retreated into their houses, fearful of the Black Feathers' arrival. She saw one citizen who improperly identified her as a gang member, and ran into her house and hurriedly locked the door before IF could reassure her. Eventually, she made it to the police department parking lot, where she quickly dismounted her motorcycle and entered the building.

As soon as she opened the door, she was met with a loud argument. One of them was a rather muscular police officer, and the other was a Basilicom agent, dressed in formal black colors.

The Basilicom agent spoke first. "The hell do you mean, 'nothing can be done yet'?! I'm telling you, they're here and they're going to cause a ruckus! Do you have any idea what that'll do to the Shares?!"

The police officer remained calm. "It's unfortunate, sir, but we have to wait until they take action. Unless we know where their base or hideout is, we can't even begin to search for them."

The agent began to lose his composure. "I saw one of them! He had a huge case, full of Anti-Share crystals! Do you have any idea how much of a threat that'll be if it goes unchecked?!"

The officer's eyes widened with realization. "Are you serious? Did you see where they went?"

"Hell no! He pulled his gun on me and forced me to leave!"

IF was about ready to leave. "Did I…come at a bad time?"

The officer turned towards her. "Oh, agent IF. Sorry about that. Are you here to contribute to the Black Feathers hunt?"

She nodded. "That's right. Also, does Lady Black Heart have that intel? On the Anti-Shares?"

The officer began to panic. "God, no! She said she was going to search for them, then left! If she gets hit by one of those, it's game over!" He searched frantically for a document before he finally found it. "Here. She seemed convinced that they're working out of an underground network in the Kuro district. Please, hurry!"

IF took the document and nodded. "Got it."

Noire looked down at her map. If her intel was right, she should be nearing the entrance to the hideout, meaning that she could finally put an end to the Black Feathers' activity. Sure enough, after just a few more moments of walking, she came upon a large metal door, almost completely covered by rust. Strangely, this door was not well hidden at all—the only inconspicuous thing about it was the location. The door was found in an obscure alleyway tucked into a rarely visited area of the Kuro district, making it unlikely for a civilian to happen upon it. For a goddess, though, finding this area was relatively easy. She pulled the door open after some effort due to the rust, and immediately found that what was underneath was not what she expected.

The area was clean, almost freakishly so. It was as if nobody had ever touched it, and as she descended into the space, there was no one around. The only sound was her breathing and footsteps, and the latter echoed more than they should. All of these factors combined with the relatively low light level put Noire on edge, and she proceeded with extreme caution.

As she entered the central area, she noticed that there were several tables with the chairs pushed in. As she looked to her right, she saw an open safe with great amounts of money and gold, as if the inhabitants were inviting her to take it.

" _This has to be a trap,"_ she thought to herself. " _That's just too obvious."_

She looked around the area more, and noticed that there was no one at all. There were empty bottles of alcohol on the tables, as well as cigarettes that were still burning on ashtrays. Reluctantly, she began to approach the safe, although her hand was on her sword, ready to defend from the impending trap that she expected.

Strangely, though, she was able to walk directly up to the open safe, where she noticed that this was not fake gold or credits. These were all real, and she assumed that this was the stolen money from Leanbox. She reached to pick up one of the gold bars when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Sorry, doll. I can't have you touching those." She heard a gunshot, and she was on the ground and in pain.


	3. Hunting a Raven

A bullet had struck Noire in the back of the leg. When she felt the wound, she noticed that it emanated Anti-Share energy. Already, she was beginning to feel her power fade.

"You…where did you get Anti-Share crystals?!"

Raven chuckled. "That shouldn't matter to a dead woman, should it?" A handgun clicked. He pointed a pistol at Noire's head. "Listen, doll. I didn't want things ta end this way. I thought you'd just take a good look around an' leave. Well, too bad for you." He smiled. "Ya had a great run as goddess. Let's both hope your pretty sister doesn't hafta meet the same end that you did."

A voice yelled out from the pathway to the main area, "Raven of the Black Feathers!"

He turned his head to face the newcomer, but did not move the gun. "Well, I'll be damned. Planeptune's star Guild agent, IF, in the flesh. Some people would be killin' just ta breathe the same air as you."

IF raised her hand. Magic glowed as she did so. "Demonic Inferno!" She perfectly positioned the attack's area so that Noire was left untouched.

"Shit." Raven jumped and rolled out of the circle, just in time to avoid getting singed by the fire. "Well, this got feisty pretty quick." The readying of guns was heard all around the room. As IF looked around, about ten men had emerged from the shadows, all wielding long arms. Raven himself had brandished a sub machine gun and had it pointed at her chest. "Tell ya what. Take the goddess and leave. Don'tchu even think of tellin' others where we are, either!"

IF ran over to Noire and helped her up. "C'mon. We have to get out of here."

Raven tightened his grip on his weapon. "Yeah, that's right. I'll give you to the count of ten 'till me and my boys forget our manners."

The two made haste in their flight from the area. As they walked, they heard Raven menacingly counting behind them. Once they emerged atop the door where they entered and closed it, they plopped onto the ground to catch their breath.

IF wiped some sweat from her forehead. "That was a close call back there. How's your leg?"

Noire performed a cursory analysis of the wound. "Not good. Do you think you can do something about this?"

IF walked over and examined the area the bullet made contact with. Luckily, the spot was difficult to miss because of the sinister red glow from the Anti-Shares. IF grabbed a toolkit from her jacket pocket and rifled through it to find some kind of tweezers, which she eventually located.

"Brace yourself. I'm not Compa, so this might hurt."

Noire nodded her head and grit her teeth. After what seemed like hours, IF pulled the tweezers out of the wound, clutching a small but potent bullet composed of Anti-Shares. Thinking quickly, she deposited it into a nearby trash can and firmly closed the lid. She returned to Noire and did her best to apply bandages to stop the bleeding, at least temporarily.

"How are you feeling? Can you walk?"

Noire shakily stood. "I think so." She internally cursed herself for her mishap in the underground.

IF wrapped Noire's arm around her shoulder. "I wish I could take you to Compa's place. For now, I'll bring you back to the Basilicom. I'm sure there's somebody there who can take care of you."

Noire only nodded in response. They began to silently walk towards the towering building in the center of the nation, the only sounds they heard being their footsteps. It seemed as though Noire was silently yelling at herself for the mishap, and no matter how many times IF tried to dissuade her from doing so, she continued nonetheless, leading to a very awkward journey.

"Alright, we're here. Hopefully someone can look after you."

They entered the building, and two guards immediately ran over to them. One spoke, "Lady Black Heart! Are you all right?"

She was about to speak, but IF cut her off, "Not really. Do you think you can spare a spot for her in the medbay?"

They both gave a firm nod. Without words, they walked her off to the infirmary. IF stood where she was for a few moments, thinking of the best course of action to take next. It was likely that the Black Feathers were moving to another area, so informing the police of their location would do little good. Additionally, further run-ins would be unwise, considering their heavy armaments.

Her phone beeped, signifying a text message. She picked it up, and saw that it was from Compa:

"Where r u? Just got out of school"

She quickly texted back, "In Lastation doing Guild work. Be back soon." It was probably best if as few people knew about this as possible.

"Kay. Cya"

After a few seconds, IF finally texted, "I'll tell u more if you want when I get back" With this, she closed her phone and began to walk down to the police department.

One indicator of the fear of the Black Feathers was the paucity of people present on the streets. Where there would normally be hundreds, if not thousands, of people bustling on just one block on a business day, there were now only a few, and they nervously scuffled from place to place. It was apparent that they wished to spend as little time outside as possible to mitigate the chances of being seen by one of the Black Feathers. All together, this was quite a remorseful sight, as the whole nation was merely a shell of its prior self.

Once she arrived at the station, two officers were engaging in dialogue.

"Did you get the report from the Basilicom? That shit is heavy."

The other one nodded and took a sip from his coffee. "Yeah. If something doesn't get done about these ne'er do wells, we might face a serious issue. Shares and what not."

The other one nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's hope someone can do something before the whole nation goes south."

IF walked in hesitantly. "Can I speak with the chief? I have some information that might be helpful."

The second guard took another sip of coffee before pointing down the hall. "Sure thing. Chief's office is at the end of the hall. Oh, and…please, do whatever you can to help this nation. Black Heart save us all."

IF only nodded before walking down the hall. Although the door was open, she knocked anyways to announce her presence.

A deep, frustrated male voice came from within. "Come on in."

IF did so, and was greeted by Chief Wallace of the Lastation police. He was a middle aged man, although he looked much older. He had brown hair that just barely sat over his ears and a beard that he carefully shaved to fit regulations.

"Lady Black Heart and I had a run-in with the Black Feathers. The information may be out of date, but I thought I should share it with you."

Wallace set down his papers immediately upon hearing this. "You made the right call. Please, tell me what you know."

IF took a deep breath and began, "I only saw a little bit of it. Lady Black Heart had entered their hideout first, and I followed. It is…or was, I should say…in an alley tucked into a corner in the Kuro district. Anyways, when I got there, one of the guys had shot her with an Anti-Share bullet and was about to put another one in her head."

Chief Wallace was furiously taking notes. "That lines up with our intel. Did you ever catch a glimpse on how many Anti-Share crystals they have?"

She shook her head. "No. I only saw Lady Black Heart and the one guy. We had to run when about ten more came in, all with guns."

He nodded. "And you said their hideout is in the Kuro district?"

"Yes, but they've probably either begun moving or have already moved to a new location."

Chief Wallace wrote some final things on his notepad before clicking his pen and putting it back into his breast pocket. "The only way they could move from Leanbox to here and from their old hideout to a new one so quickly is if they have people helping them. Namely, people who don't call themselves the 'Black Feathers'. That's also a good explanation for how they got Anti-Shares; they're probably teaming up with some old members of ASIC, like that troublemaker Linda."

IF nodded. "Are you suggesting we take out those offshoots first to cut off their outside help?"

Wallace nodded. "Yes. That seems like the best course of action. Taking them on directly as they are now wouldn't end well, since they likely have some government institutions under their damn thumbs. Our first priority should be cutting off the Anti-Shares."

IF agreed. "I'll help you do that. The entire world's practically after those guys, after all."

"Nicely done. The Lastation police force will assist you in any way they can. I hope that we can help bring the end of this closer. Lady Black Heart save us. Now, then…" He stood up and walked out of the room. IF followed suit. "Let's go kill a raven!"


	4. High Chief Stone

IF walked with Chief Wallace into the main area. He had summoned all of the officers in the station to receive a briefing on their newest operation, and they were standing in neat lines. The chief cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Listen up, everyone. For too long, Gamindustri and her innocents have been threatened by the nefarious acts of the Black Feathers. Well, that ends today. With the intel that Miss IF here has provided us, we can officially start an operation to put every last one of those Black Feathers either behind bars or six feet under. It's time to hunt some birds!"

Everyone cheered. IF quickly pulled out her phone and texted Compa.

"*Soz, can't be back for a while. Things are happening here in Lastation*"

After a few seconds, Compa replied, "*np. Just come back safe *"

IF smiled and closed her phone. When she looked back up, all of the officers were clamoring to their lockers to retrieve their weapons. Chief Wallace was on the phone with the local broadcasting corporation, and was putting in a hefty request—broadcast the beginning of Operation: Raven Hunt, and advise all of the citizens to report suspicious activity. Normally, this kind of request would be accepted in a heartbeat, especially coming from someone with as much admiration and clout as Chief Wallace, but the main complaint was that the public was already on edge and broadcasting this would increase panic.

After a few minutes, Chief Wallace hung up the phone and walked out to IF. "Sorry about the delay, agent." He handed her a police badge. "Normally, you'd have to complete all sorts of paperwork, but there's just not enough time. We need people to be able to recognize you as police."

She took the badge and pinned it to her jacket. "Thanks, but wouldn't a uniform help, too?"

Wallace twirled keys around his finger. "That's what I'm attending to now. If you'll come with me, I can take you the main headquarters."

The two got into a police car and began driving towards the eastern end of the country. There was barely any traffic, and so the only delays were caused by automated traffic lights that signaled a stop despite the lack of other cars, much to Wallace's chagrin. As they drove, he continued to explain to IF about the situation.

"The station we just came from is an offshoot of the main HQ. We usually don't use this building, but…" As he said this, dozens upon dozens of other police cars came driving down the same road as him. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and we need all of the manpower we can get."

IF looked at all of the cars. "Wouldn't it be better to keep some officers in the city, just in case there's another crime there? Or, even worse, if the Black Feathers move there?"

Wallace nodded. "I thought of that, too. I left the bare minimum amount of men back there. Right now, though, almost all of this nation's crime is controlled and scheduled by the Black Feathers. Our priority is taking them down, starting with their supply of Anti-Shares."

The rest of the drive was silent. After about five minutes, the cars all approached a massive building, almost the same height as the Basilicom. The outside was a commanding and sleek black color, ending at the top with several antennae and even a satellite dish. All of the cars parked, and everyone exited their vehicles and began making their way towards the building. As they did so, they were greeted by guards equipped in futuristic armor that left none of their body exposed. The main body piece was pitch black with the word 'POLICE' written in white across the breast, and several pockets for knives, handguns, and pepper spray. The helmet was the same shade of black, with a visor that disallowed outsiders from seeing in, but gave the officer full visibility of the area around them. If a single word was to be given to describe these officers, it would be 'intimidating'.

The guards scanned their badges and allowed everyone in except for IF. When her badge was scanned, the guards all drew their weapons and pointed them at her with deadly precision and efficiency. Her upper torso had two red dots that preluded death, and the only thing she could think to do was throw her hands up as a show of docility.

Chief Wallace walked back out. "Don't worry; she's one of mine. Didn't dress for it, but I'm getting her a uniform from here."

The imposing, black-dressed guards looked at him and back to IF a few times before lowering their guns and reluctantly allowing her entry. As she walked into the building, she noticed that the main lobby was extremely clean, as the floor almost shined with polish. All around, officers clamored from room to room and talked to each other in the halls. Strangely, they were all dressed like the guards outside, although their helmets were removed.

Chief Wallace broke the silence. "Like the dress, huh? Well, you won't have to be envious for too long. I'll be getting you a suit, complete with all the weapons and extra stuff."

The two walked to a hallway with two locker rooms, where they stopped outside of the female door. Wallace handed IF a set of keys. "Your locker is number 420. Everything is in it already."

IF took the keys and entered the room and noticed that it was completely empty. This only made sense, since everyone was already dressed, but it still put her on edge. She slowly walked to her locker and opened it, immediately seeing her new uniform. She took off her jacket and hung it up inside, making sure to take out her phone beforehand. Once she was done dressing out, IF walked over to one of the mirrors in the room and made minor adjustments to her badge as well as her helmet.

She walked out and saw Wallace leaning against a wall. He scanned her uniform and tilted the badge a small degree before saying, "Looking good, Officer. Welcome to the corps." He smiled, but this smile was quickly replaced by a stern expression. "Now that you're ready, let's go to the briefing room. The head of police will give everyone a briefing."

IF tilted her head. "So you're the chief of that station, but the entire police force has a different chief. Who is it?"

He chuckled. "I think you'll like her. Don't worry, everything will be fine on my watch."

They called the elevator and rode it all the way to the very top floor, eventually coming upon a large space that overlooked the surrounding area. Many officers were already gathered here, and some were appearing from other elevators on the other sides of the room. Once the entire corps had gathered, Chief Wallace walked to the front of the room.

"I trust this is everyone. Now, then, I'm sure all of you are as angered as I am with the recent spike of activity from the Black Feathers. We've summoned you here today to prove we mean business. The chief of police, High Chief Stone, will give you the details on our operation."

Everyone clapped and cheered as High Chief Stone exited an elevator. She was a rather young woman—judging by appearance, she could be no more than forty. She wore the same uniform as everyone else, and with her helmet, she was almost confusable with a man due to her tall posture and flat chest. She stopped in front of everyone and began to walk down the aisles between the gathered officers. She stopped to look at IF especially, noticing her posture and cleanliness of uniform.

Her voice was stern, but not unloving. "Good to see another fine young woman joining our corps." She outstretched her hand. "Your name's IF, right? It's an honor."

IF was a little but stunned by this show of respect. She hesitantly took the handshake, and by doing so, almost had her hand crushed by the force of Stone's grip. Once she had made her way back to the front of the room, IF cajoled her hand, but had to stop herself from visibly gritting her teeth.

Stone clapped her hands together, and everyone tensed up. "Now, then. Chief Wallace did a good job outlining the basics of our task. I'm here to give you the details—that is, I'm going to tell you exactly how we're going to put a stop to the Black Feathers." She began to pace around the room. "I'm sure you're all aware of what just happened a few hours ago. For those who aren't, Lady Black Heart made the admirable decision of taking the fight to them. What she didn't know: those thugs have Anti-Shares. And your critical minds have likely already told you that that can only mean one thing: the Black Feathers are not operating alone. The only way to get Anti-Shares is to somehow be affiliated with the remnants of ASIC, so that already gives us a start."

She walked over to the wall and an electronic display dropped from the roof. It highlighted possible routes of movement throughout the city to retrieve Anti-Shares. She cleared her throat and began again, "The only confirmed remnants of ASIC are Linda, more commonly known as Underling, and Warechu. Both are rather harmless on their own, but should still be approached with caution. If you see them, shoot to incapacitate. We want to keep them alive and put them on proper trial." She pointed to the routes. "Pay special attention to these routes. It's the most probable ways for them to move to meet with their provider, since all of these avoid significant exposure to the public eye." The display shut off. "Any questions?"

Everyone shook their head. Everything seemed rather understandable. After about a second of silence, Stone began, "Alright then. Wallace said this before me, but…" Her voice raised to a loud rallying cry. "Let's go hunt some birds!"


	5. Raven’s Warning

The beginning of Operation: Raven Hunt coincided with a return of citizen's hope and happiness. More people came onto the streets seemingly by the hour, and Lastation's Shares experienced a rise in the few hours after the beginning of the hunt. In addition, Black Feather activity decreased substantially, although this was to be expected given the new influx of heavily armed police officers on almost every street.

"Agent IF, have you got visual? Over." One of the officers spoke into his radio, closely eyeing an alleyway ahead of him.

She clicked the button to begin communication. "Negative. What's it look like over there? Oh, uh…over." IF was still getting used to the expectations of police communication, especially to the habit of saying 'over' at the end of each transmission. She understood the need for this practice, but it was confusing and disorienting nonetheless.

"We haven't got visual either. Looks like the rats ran back into the walls. Over."

"Copy that. Moving in now." IF lowered her radio and carefully walked into an abandoned building, gun ready immediately upon opening the door. This building was suspected to be a possible meeting ground of the Black Feather's dealings, and she was sent with a squad-mate to comb through the area.

"Do you see anything?" IF's squad-mate was one Officer Cooper, who was given the callsign of 'Miles'. This was a term of mocking endearment, since he grossly failed his first physical inspection for the corps and almost lost his job. Now, though, he had severely increased the intensity of his workout program, although he still accepted the callsign.

"No. Looks like this was a cold lead."

Cooper put on infrared goggles. "Don't presume. There might be someone we can't see as we are now." He carefully looked around the area before pointing his finger towards a set of stairs. "Above us. I'm getting something."

They ascended the stairs slowly, guns ready. Their laser sights flew around the area before Cooper decided to detach his to prevent the light from alerting hostiles. IF followed suit, but unfortunately, this limited the light in the room even more—the room was dark and she had almost tripped on the stairs multiple times.

When they reached the second floor, Cooper immediately ducked to cover and beckoned IF to do the same. When she did so, he pointed into a wide room in front of them that was so poorly lit it was impossible to see anything without special equipment.

Cooper whispered, "11 o'clock and 2 o'clock. We're supposed to catch them alive. Are you ready?"

IF nodded and secured her helmet's visor. She whispered back, "Let's go."

The two slowly stood up and readied themselves. Cooper equipped his gun with a special flashlight attachment and nodded to IF. They turned towards the threats and he turned on his flashlight, exposing them immediately.

"Free…" Cooper was cut short when the two Black Feathers jumped out the open window and lowered themselves back into the alleyway. "Let's go, IF! Before they can get away!"

She nodded. "Got it."

They lowered themselves out of the same window, and the chase began. The two officers pursued the two Black Feathers through the alleyway and out onto the barren Mayonaka Street. After about ten seconds of running, the gang members ducked into a building and slammed the door shut behind them, locking it for added measure.

The two officers approached the door, and Cooper attempted to open it to no avail. "So they did lock it. Alright, are you ready?"

IF only nodded in response. Cooper gave the door a firm kick, but found that the door was only slightly budged. "Damn. Looks like they reinforced it. Give me a moment, I've got something for this."

He pulled a shotgun from a sling on his back and pressed it to the lock of the door. He gave a countdown from three, and on the mark, he discharged it, blowing the lock clean off. Sure enough, there was a pile of miscellaneous objects in their path, ranging from bookcases to dressers. Once they sorted through the mess, they slowly walked into the open room on the other side, finding it empty.

Cooper whispered, "Looks like they—" A bullet flew out from the shadows and struck him in the neck, sending him recoiling backwards onto the ground. Blood welled out of the wound, forming a crimson puddle underneath him.

IF looked at his dead body in shock. She readied her weapon and looked around the room frantically, but no matter where she turned, she could not find anyone.

"Lookin' for me, doll?" Another bullet flew and struck IF in the knee, causing her to fall to the ground in pain. Raven emerged from the shadows, his hand clutching a revolver.

IF attempted to crawl away, but Raven stopped her by stomping on her ankle. He looked at her police badge and laughed. "So, you decided to meet up with the fuzz, huh? Shame." He put the barrel of his revolver directly in line with IF's eye. "I expected more outta you, doll. Looks like I set my expectations a wee bit too high."

After what seemed like an hour, Raven began to laugh. "Don't worry, doll. I'm not gonna kill ya. I just thought…maybe you and I could work somethin' out? See, the Lastation fuzz seems ta think they can stop us. I know you're smart. Has that worked out so far?" After a moment of silence, Raven continued, "It wasn't a rhetorical question, sweetheart."

IF shook her head. "Not yet, but that doesn't—"

Raven waggled his finger. "Not what I asked, doll. You're kinda pushin' your luck here. Maybe I should just blast yer brains out after all…" He shook his head. "But, then you wouldn't get tha message. Here's my point."

Raven stomped on IF's stomach, causing her to cough out in pain. He kept his foot there, stopping her from breathing properly. "I know you've gotta girl back in…Planeptune, was it? The clumsy, happy nurse?" He took her phone from her pocket and opened it. It was now that IF began to regret taking it with her. "Compa! That was her name." He closed the phone and threw it on the ground, breaking it into many pieces. "You can chase me all ya want, doll, but then who'll keep her safe? It's disrespectful ta die 'fore you get your words with her in, ya know?"

IF was panting, barely able to breath. "Keep your…filthy hands off of Compa…you bastard!"

Raven shot her elbow, eliciting a scream of pain and further loss of blood. At this point, her vision was starting to fade. "I will, I will. Just as long as you stop 'huntin' birds', doll." He struck her head with the butt of his revolver, and she was unconscious.


	6. Desperation

IF awoke to the pleasant smell of rosemary, not so strong where it would be overwhelming, but strong enough to have a noticeable effect. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she was in a hospital area, and could only assume it to be a Lastation hospital. Thinking back to the events of the past, she recalled entering the dark building, and seeing Officer Cooper's dead body next to her. She remembered her phone being broken, and also remembered something much darker.

"…Compa…" She mumbled to herself as she attempted to go back to sleep.

A nurse walked over to her. "Please, I need you to wake up. We need to make sure nothing's wrong."

IF reluctantly opened her eyes again and saw a middle aged woman standing above her, clad in the standard issue nurse uniform, a clean white suit with many pockets for different pieces of equipment. She looked at her name tag and noticed it read 'Black'.

Nurse Black looked to a screen to IF's left and typed some things into a spreadsheet. She turned to IF and said, "You were very badly injured there. It's lucky that you didn't die."

IF attempted to sit up, but immediately recoiled in pain upon doing so. She laid back in the bed, silently cursing her injuries. Panicked, the nurse warned, "You can't move yet. I don't know what reasons you have, but…"

IF cut her off. "That bastard threatened Compa! Do you have any idea…"

Black remained calm. "No. I don't. I don't know how close you are to this Compa. However…" She gestured to the operating table, where there lay a golden ring of matrimony. "I know that nobody else needs to be hurt today."

There was a moment of silence before IF realized what Nurse Black was insinuating. "Were you…married to Officer Cooper?"

The nurse could not muster words. She simply nodded, and despite her attempts to maintain composure, tears were beginning to well in her eyes. The next few moments were like hours, as Nurse Black fought back tears and IF simply remained silent. After a while, Chief Wallace walked in, but stopped after noticing the nurse. He lowered his head in sorrow, and sat down in one of the chairs, not wishing to inadvertently disrespect the dead. Eventually, the nurse regained composure and saw herself out of the room, leaving IF and Chief Wallace.

He spoke first, "I understand why you want to go to Compa. I really do. But…" His voice was quiet, but teemed with anger. "I absolutely will not lose another man today! I don't know your family, but Officer Cooper had a wife and children that he can't come back to anymore all because of the damned Black Feathers!"

IF relented. "I'll stay until I'm fully healed. But…do you have a phone? I'd like to talk to Compa."

Wallace nodded. "I'll do that for you." He pulled a smartphone out of his uniform pocket and turned it on. "Give me her number and I'll put her on speaker."

IF rattled off Compa's number from memory. After a few seconds of ringing, Compa answered. "H-hello? Who is this?"

Wallace held the phone out to IF. "Hey, Compa. It's me, Iffy."

Compa's voice practically glittered with happiness. "Iffy! Where are you? I've missed you!"

IF grimly said, "I'm in the hospital. I had a run-in with the Black Feathers. Don't worry, though. I'm alright."

There was a pause before Compa began, "Those guys that have been tearing up the nations? They've cause a lot of trouble for Nep-Nep, too. She complains about them every day."

Wallace was about to speak, but cut himself off. He looked to IF, determination in his eye. She realized what his intention was, and she spoke to the phone, "Has the Planeptune Police been mobilized against the Black Feathers?"

"Nope. Nep-Nep keeps trying to take them on herself. She hasn't found anyone yet, though."

IF urgently said, "Tell her to stop looking for them. They have Anti-Shares, and she could get seriously hurt."

Compa gasped. "Anti-Shares?! Does that mean…they're part of that nasty group, ASIC?"

Wallace handed IF a sheet of paper, on which was written a summary of the day's events. She read it before beginning, "No, but suspicion is that they're getting supplied by ASIC. The Lastation police did capture one person who claimed to be a supplier, though."

"Okay. I'm sure Nep-Nep will be happy to hear she doesn't have to work anymore!"

IF chuckled. "Well, she still will. Please also tell her to mobilize the Planeptune police in pursuit of the Black Feathers. Although their main base is here, it's likely that they have branches in all of the nations."

"Got it. We'll get those bad guys in no time!"

"Thank you, Compa. Bye!"

"Bye, Iffy!"

Wallace ended the call and put away his phone. He gave a nod of approval to IF. "Well done, agent. Now we've got at least two nations' police forces looking for these bastards."

IF rested her head deeper into the pillow, forming an indentation of her head. "Do you have any idea when I can get back into service?"

"Well, you took one to the elbow and another to the knee, and you also took come hits to your core. The doctors already got the bullets out, so I'd say your recovery time is a week at the most. In all likelihood, we're just waiting for the pain to subside even now."

Wallace's phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket again, and after noticing the caller ID, he put it to his ear immediately. "High Chief Stone, ma'am."

Stone chuckled. "Was it your idea to mobilize the Planeptune police force? 'Cause it was a damn good one, Wallace."

He shook his head. "No, ma'am. That came from agent IF."

"Oh, did it now? Well, tell her that…" Her voice was cut off and replaced with static. When Chief Wallace looked at the phone, he noticed that it the display was filled with a graphic design of a raven. The chief worriedly said, "What the hell?! Agent IF, do you have any idea what's going on?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know they could intercept calls."

Suddenly, Raven's voice filled the room. "One of my boys taught me how ta do this. I oughta give 'im a raise." He chuckled, and the clicking of a cigarette lighter was heard. "Looks like ya didn't hold down yer end of the bargain, doll. I thought I told ya to stop huntin' birds." A gun was heard clicking. "Well, now you'll see what happens when ya disobey me. And it ain't gonna be pretty, I assure you."

IF angrily said, "You bastard! Don't you dare do anything to…"

Raven cut her off by laughing. "It's too late for that now, doll. Ya know, Compa's a nice name. Too bad it now belongs to a dead woman."

Wallace spoke angrily, "You know we can track calls! We'll just trace this to your location and gun you down!"

Although he could not be seen, it was presumable that Raven was arrogantly waggling his finger. "You can only trace tha calls if the phone's still intact. If, by random chance, I was to shatter this here phone into a billion pieces after this here call, ya couldn't do a thing. Ain't that right, Wallace?"

Wallace grit his teeth and grunted in anger. Raven continued, "Sorry it had ta come to this, doll. Maybe now you'll finally take us seriously."

The phone shut off, and the room was filled with a dreadful silence.


	7. A Crying Bird

Wallace threw the phone into his pocket. "I'm going to take myself and a few of my agents down to Planeptune. I know you want to come, but I need you to stay here."

IF wanted to resist, but the look in Wallace's eyes signaled to her his intransigence. "Alright. I'll stay here."

Wallace nodded and left without further words. IF was left alone in the hospital room, silently worrying for Compa's safety. Her anger towards Raven was building, and in that moment, she made a vow to herself—she would be the one to kill him, even if it got herself killed. To her, the sacrifice was worth it.

Suddenly, the door flew open, almost falling off of its hinges with the force of the swing. Raven walked into the room holding a submachine gun and smoking a cigarette. He looked at IF for a few moments, his face stoic.

He removed his cigarette and spoke, "Come on, doll, don't give me that glare. This is happenin' whether ya like it or not."

IF was angry, but due to her circumstances, she could do nothing but vocalize her ire. "So the attack on Planeptune was just a diversionary tactic? You're actually still here?!"

Raven blew a puff of smoke from his cigarette and nodded. "Yep. You're actually kinda smart, doll." He laid his gun across his lap and leaned back in his chair. "With that punk Wallace outta the way, the path was clear for tha Black Feathers ta move in and lay claim to a good chunk of tha city. Too bad you realized it and not him."

She didn't know whether to be relieved or angry at this. "So, does that mean Compa's safe?"

He chuckled. "Maybe. Doll, that depends on how ya handle yerself from here on out. Say you kinda just sit back and let us roll in. If ya did that, your girl would be completely fine. But…if ya made the wrong choice? If ya kept 'huntin' birds'? Then…" He menacingly fired a shot of his gun out the window, spraying shattered glass outside and even leaving some shards inside. "Then you'd both be hurtin'."

IF was unsure of what to do. Although acting could possibly result in the death of both herself and Compa, truancy could cause even more damage to the nations. Even now, the Shares regained following the start of Operation: Raven Hunt were quickly being lost following the Black Feathers' movement into the city, and the other three nations were no better off.

Raven took another breath from his cigarette before he broke the silence. "Do ya wanna know why I started tha Black Feathers? Why I'm doin' all these bad things?"

"Yeah, actually. Please, enlighten me." IF was bitter.

"The Black Feather's wasn't always a…violent…gang, no. We actually started as a home for tha broken and hurtin'."

IF scoffed. "I can't believe that for a second."

Raven was unusually angry. "Shut tha hell up!" He collected himself before continuing, "When I was a teenager, I lost my parents to a sick murderer. Bein' alone…really hurt. I was bullied by people who didn't know 'bout it, and I could hardly take it anymore." He took a sorrowful breath from his cigarette. "I took to the streets, not carin' about school or…life, if I'm bein' honest. Eventually, I was so alone an' so afraid that I formed the Black Feathers, but it didn't have a name then." He wistfully looked out the window. "But, of course, the world always gets tha last laugh. When we was just startin' out, we were constantly targeted by gangs and bullies. Eventually, we grew so angry that we…just started killin'. We killed and killed and killed, not carin' if the person on the other end of tha barrel had a family."

IF wasn't hearing it. "You said it yourself. You don't care if they have a family. Do you think this is the solution to your problems?!"

Raven angrily scrunched up his cigarette. A moment of silence passed before he threw the balled up cig out the window and began again. "Say what ya want, doll. It ain't gonna change a thing. Even if I was to die right now, the world's still gon' be as fucked up as when I left it. Why should I start carin' 'bout the world when it never stopped ta care 'bout me?"

Before IF could say anything, Raven pointed his gun into the hallway and fired several times, spraying blood on the door and dropping a body to the ground. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Listen, doll, I don't expect ya to care 'bout me. But…don't try and act all high an' mighty. Reality is, you ain't no better than all tha other rabble on the streets." He got up to leave, but before he did so, he turned on the TV in the hospital room.

"Lastation's Shares have experienced a hit recently, falling below Lowee and on the border of falling below Planeptune. This likely has to do with the rise in activity from the Black Feathers, as they move to take control of most of the capital city. Will anyone be able to stop the Black Feathers? Will the Shares drop so low that it causes complications for the future? These are questions that we may have to answer moving forward. What are your thoughts, Jeremy?" After hearing this, Raven smirked and ran out the door.

"Thank you, Alice. So far…" IF blocked out the rest, thinking about what to do in the future. So far, Leanbox and Lastation had been hit the hardest out of the four nations, with the former losing almost all Shares to the Black Feathers. If things kept going like this, Gamindustri might face a crisis similar to the one faced against ASIC and the Deity of Sin, and be in a similar state of disrepair.

"Don't look that way, agent. We'll fix this, even if it brings my end." IF looked to the source of the voice and saw High Chief Stone standing in the doorway, armed to the teeth with her visor up.

"High Chief Stone?! Did you come out here just to visit me? I, uh…" She was uncertain of what to say, but luckily, Stone raised her hand to calm her.

"Don't worry about respect. Right now, I'm as deep in this as you are, so as far as I'm concerned, we're equal." She paced around the room. "Based on the blood, the dead body outside, and the broken window, I'm guessing Raven paid you a visit."

IF nodded. "Yeah. He said that Planeptune was just a diversion and that there aren't truly any Black Feathers there."

Stone clenched her fist. "Damn…they got us. I saw the news just now, too. They've already taken a good bit of the city."

IF was unfazed by this. "I've worked with worse odds before. We'll just have to work from the ground up."

Stone nodded in determination. "Good mindset, agent. Operation: Raven Hunt is still in effect!" She raised her fist, and although IF could not rally with her at the moment, her determination was still set ablaze. "We're going to win our nation back!!"


	8. Prelude to the End

A little bit late, but shout out to Jerzu for writing a review on almost every chapter! Guess you really like this genre, huh? ;)

A few days passed, and they were quite miserable days. The entire nation went into a state of waking death, as only the most dedicated or oblivious people continued their work. Where the streets would normally be completely covered by cars moving at almost imperceptibly high speeds, they were now completely bare, revealing the black asphalt underneath. The sidewalks were very rarely occupied, and when they were in use, the people hurriedly scurried from place to place, minimizing their time on the street.

By now, IF was in good enough shape to leave the hospital as long as she was with someone, and since she was in the care of High Chief Stone, it was rather safe for her to be about in the city. On her first day out, they found almost no Black Feather activity. Although the eerie silence put them both on edge, it was never broken—it was as if the nation had died while IF was being healed.

Today, though, was different. Currently, IF and High Chief Stone were in hot pursuit of two Black Feathers, and they had almost caught up.

Stone looked at IF as they ran. She said between breaths, "Do you think you can get a shot on their legs?"

IF responded, "I can try." She raised her gun to chest level and put the sight to her eyes, zeroing in on her targets.

One of the Black Feathers turned around, and his eyes went wide as he saw IF preparing to fire. He turned to his comrade and yelled, "Shit! Get down!"

They both jumped behind an alley corner, stopping IF from shooting. She quickly lowered her gun and resumed running.

Stone scanned the alley before proceeding. She warned, "Be careful. It's possible they're leading us into a trap, like they did with Cooper."

IF grimly nodded, remembering that day. "Got it."

The chase continued for about a minute until one of the Black Feathers tripped, allowing IF and Stone to easily catch up to him. Unfortunately, the other one had run off, and by now was far out of sight.

Stone raises the butt of her gun and struck the gang member in the chest, knocking the air out of him and forcing him to gasp for air. "You're coming with us, bastard! And don't even think of running!"

The Black Feather put his hands up, signaling surrender. Stone reached for a pair of handcuffs, but came up dry. "Damn. Must have dropped them in that chase. Agent, do you have any?"

IF patted herself down and also came up dry. "Nope. I don't have any. Looks like we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Stone sighed. "Yep." She hit the Black Feather on the head with a sharp blow, rendering him unconscious immediately.

IF looked shocked, but assisted Stone in carrying him nonetheless. "Not exactly what I meant, but that works. Now, where are we going to take him?"

They walked for about a second before Stone responded, "I guess we can take him to the hospital. They've probably taken over most of the police stations in the city, so trying to use one of those wouldn't end well."

IF nodded in affirmation and assisted Stone in this effort. The rest of the walk back was silent, their footsteps being the only sound for all to hear. Unfortunately, due to the state of the city, the two officers had to make haste to their destination, since being exposed for any length of time was a risk, especially since their uniforms branded them as an important target for the Black Feathers.

Once they reached their destination, Stone set the unconscious Black Feather into one of the empty chairs. "Alright, we're back. Now we just..."

Stone was cut short when three cylindrical canisters rolled down the stairs to their location in the lobby. Sensing danger, both officers ran for cover, only to find that these canisters were not explosives, but rather, smoke grenades. In a matter of seconds, the entire room was filled with choking grey smoke, and both IF and Stone were now completely blinded. The hospital's automated fire response system detected the smoke and activated the sprinkler system, further adding to the chaos. At this point, IF and Stone were completely separated, each at opposite ends of the room from each other.

IF cupped her hands over her mouth. "Stone! Where are…"

She was interrupted by a sharp blow to the stomach that took the wind out of her and forced her to the ground. When she looked up, she saw the familiar face of Raven, who hit her with his gun a second time. "You just love makin' things hard, don't you? Well, I made a promise, and I gotta deliver now. Boys!"

At his call, two more gang members ran over and struck IF a few more times before taking hold of her limbs, effectively restraining her. Raven took out a roll of tape from his pockets and tightly bound her arms and legs, completely restricting her from moving. He grinned and said, "Let's go. Wouldn't wanna keep Compa waitin'."

IF protested before Raven hit her in the chest with the butt of his gun. "Just shut up, will ya? This'll go a lot quicker if ya keep quiet."

Raven led the way to a plain black car in the hospital's parking lot. The two gang members threw her in the back seat, and at this point, IF was too badly beaten to put up much resistance. Raven turned the keys and drove at high speed towards Planeptune, rolling the front left window down to hang his elbow out of.

He spoke to IF without bothering to look at her. "It's too bad, ya know? If ya had just done what I asked, this wouldn't be happenin'. Too late for regrets now, though, doll. You made your choice, and just so happened ta dig your friend's grave."

IF could say nothing in response. The rest of the drive was uncomfortably quiet, broken only by occasional banter between Raven and his lackeys. When they approached the Planeptune border, Raven pulled up the car to a border guard.

The guard walked over and his eyes widened in shock. "You're…"

Raven reached out and quickly pulled him into the other front seat. Before the guard could do much in response, Raven unsheathed a knife from his coat and drove it into his neck, silencing him immediately. He rolled up his window afterward.

"Damnit, doll. Look what ya made me do." Raven chuckled.

The drive continued for about ten more minutes until Raven entered a residential area and stopped the car. "Now, then. Compa's address…3325. Let's go, boys."

They exited the car, IF slung over the shoulder of one of the thugs. Internally, she winced at Raven's accuracy.

AN: Hate to break the mood, but I didn't just choose random numbers for Compa's address. Can any of you smart people out there figure it out? I think the better question, though, is this: What'll happen to poor Compa?!


	9. Past and Present

Nah, I did not take these numbers from the Bible. Based on relation to the alphabet, Compa's address is CUTE! The first letter, C, corresponds to 3 (A=1, B=2, C=3). Since 'u' is a two digit number, though, I had to do something different. Since it's the 21st letter, I just added up the digits to get 3. I did the same thing for 't' to give me two, and 'e' is a single digit number. Now, then, let's find out what happens to our good friend Compa.

Raven and his thugs stopped outside the door, almost taunting IF. He lit a cigarette before he spoke, "You might wanna brace yourself, doll. This ain't gonna be too…enjoyable."

IF pleaded, "Don't do anything to Compa! Kill me! Do whatever you want, just don't hurt her!"

Raven chuckled. "Bit too late for that one. You made yer choice. Now then, boys, let's go."

He knocked on the door the same way a guest would. After a few seconds, Compa happily opened up, but her eyes widened in terror when she saw who was there.

Despite the tense nature of the situation, Raven joked, "Ding dong! Your death has arrived, and we brought company!"

Compa could barely speak. "What…what did you do to Iffy?!"

Raven took a huff of his cigarette, but released the smoke outside. "We're teachin' her a lesson. See, she decided to keep tryin' to do us in, even after I personally warned her. So…" He brandished his revolver, and the two other gang members took out their submachine guns. "I've gotta teach her a lesson she can't possibly forget."

They entered the house, and Compa backed into a closet door. The thugs went to the fridge in search of alcohol, but slammed the door shut out of anger when they discovered there were no such beverages. Raven set IF down on a chair, being sure to properly restrain her in her new position. He pulled up another chair, and his thugs followed suit.

Just after he sat down, though, Raven got up, threw his cigarette outside, and closed the door. "Before we set down to business, why don't we have a little talk? I know better than anyone that talkin' can help out."

IF pleaded once more, "Please, don't do anything to Compa! I'll…"

Raven silenced her. "Do anything, right. We've heard this already." He turned to Compa. "Do you got anythin' original you wanna add?"

Compa was still very shaken up from their sudden entry. "Please…don't hurt her…don't hurt Iffy…"

Raven sighed in exasperation. "Can't anyone say anythin' original? Maybe I should just kill her…" He pointed his revolver at Compa's head, causing her to recoil in terror.

Before IF could say anything, Raven lowered his revolver and laughed. "Nah, not just yet. I actually wanna make you an offer, 'Iffy'."

IF was confused. "What?"

Raven leaned back in his chair. "I'll keep your doll alive…on one condition."

She responded without hesitation. "What do you want?"

He grinned wickedly. "You join and pledge your full loyalty to the Black Feathers."

The room went silent. After what felt like an hour, a voice from outside the door called out, "You'd better not take that offer, Iffy!"

IF and Compa spoke in unison, "Nep?!"

The door flew open, and sure enough, the goddess of Planeptune was seen on the other side. Although she was glaring, she still had a mischievous smile. "That's right! The protagonist is here to…"

Before she could finish, Raven pulled a second handgun out of his coat and shot Neptune in the knee. Almost immediately after contact, the Anti-Shares sapped her energy. "Didja honestly think that was gonna work, doll?"

Neptune clutched her wound before she realized something. "Nep?! You've got Anti-Shares? But how? Only those ASIC thugs have those!"

Raven shook his head condescendingly. "Not quite, doll. I'm sure even you know that Anti-Shares are made when there's enough distrust in tha goddess. With our activity, more and more Anti-Shares were bein' created, so we just took what nature provided us." As he finished, a devilish grin crossed his face.

Neptune attempted to stand, but both the pain in her knee and the effect of the Anti-Shares prevented her from doing so. "Oof, that hurts! Is this what most people feel when they get shot?!"

Raven did not bother to respond. He walked over to Neptune and pointed his revolver at her forehead. "I didn't think I'd catch both her and you in the same run. Looks like life sometimes doesn't just fuck ya over."

Neptune looked up at him. "Wait a minute…me *and* her? Who was the other one?"

Raven pointed haphazardly at Compa, who was unsure of what to do. "I was plannin' on takin' her out to show your friend IF that we ain't somethin' to be messed with."

Neptune glared with an anger that was starkly unusual to her character. "You…you wanted to kill Compa?!" She shakily stood up, using the wall to balance herself and leaving a smear of blood in the shape of her hand.

Raven was unfazed. "Yeah. I was about ta do it, too, till you came and ruined things."

Neptune took a slow step forward. "I…won't let you do that…even if it costs me…"

Raven shot her in the other leg, causing her to buckle to the ground again. "Your life, right? You goddesses love ta try and be 'selfless'. Look what it's costin' you now, though."

Neptune slowly got up again. "That 'doll'…is my friend…I won't…let you hurt her…!"

Raven took a step back, not out of fear, but out of spite. "Yeah, whatever. Changes nothin'. You're still both dead."

A black car with purple stripes pulled up outside the house. On the right door was written 'POLICE', and it was being occupied by the Planeptune police, as one may guess. The officers exited the vehicle, clad in uniforms of the same color as the car and weapons not unlike those given to the Lastation police. From the backseat, Chief Wallace exited the car, anger written on his face.

Raven smacked himself on the forehead. "Right! I forgot about all you. That punk Chief Wallace fell for my diversion an' IF here told the pink police to come after me. Damn, how could I not 'member…"

Wallace angrily stepped into the room. Raven's two thugs pointed their guns at him, and the Planeptune officers pointed their guns at the thugs. Wallace's gun was aimed directly at Raven's chest. He angrily roared, "Raven of the Black Feathers! You are under arrest for grand theft, vehicular assault, murder, manslaughter, blackmailing, crimes against humanity, and assault of a goddess!"

Raven smirked. "Well, I'd say that's a damn fine record. Tell me, Wallace…" He pointed his revolver at IF and his Anti-Share handgun at Neptune. "I've still got hostages. You ain't gonna shoot me still, are ya?" Another wicked grin crossed his face.

Wallace grimaced. "Damnit Raven!" He clenched his fists around his weapon grips. "Are you still trying to get revenge for back then?! I've changed since that! I'm not the same person I once was!"

He chuckled. "It ain't that easy, 'Chief'. When you're like me, no school time and no skills, you haven't got any options but the illegal ones. Can ya honestly blame me, Wallace?!" Raven put emphasis and scorn on the Chief's name.

Wallace lowered his weapon, but only for a split second. "Our circumstances weren't that different, Raven! Why could I change, but you couldn't?! Why did you choose this path?!"

He tightened his grip on both of his guns. "Damnit, Wallace! Ya still don't get it?! You got help, while the world threw me to tha side! You got chance after chance, livin' in you ivory tower, while I had ta struggle just ta survive!"

IF looked around in confusion. "Wait…what's going on here? How do you two know each other?!"

Raven looked at her, but then back to Wallace. "He may look like a hero now, doll, but don't be fooled. 'Chief' Wallace…" His voice raised to a vindictive yell. "Is tha bastard that killed my parents!"


	10. A Fork In the Road

Everyone looked at the chief, including the two Planeptune officers. IF looked at him intently. "Chief…is that true?"

Wallace slowly nodded. "Unfortunately. I was so young then, and I couldn't find a way to voice my anger. I personally knew Raven, so I decided to kill his parents."

Neptune was still on the floor from the Anti-Shares. "But…why? Why him?"

Raven smirked. "I kinda fucked with 'im in school. At least, I did when I was in school." He gave a wry chuckle.

Raven's thugs shot the two Planeptune officers in the chest, killing them both instantly. They then turned their guns towards Wallace, who was forced to put his hands up in surrender. Raven spoke, "Tell ya what, punk. You let me leave here without a scratch, and I don't wipe out these poor, poor dolls. Whaddya say?"

Wallace paused for a moment before he assented. "Okay. Go on."

Raven smirked. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He turned to everyone in the room. "Now, everyone, be good girls for yer friend Wallace, alright?" He and his thugs left.

When he was next to Wallace, he stopped for a moment. "Oh, just one more thing…" He gave a swift, strong punch to Wallace's stomach, causing him to keel over in pain. "A partin' gift, from me ta you. Hope ya like it."

Raven and his thugs commandeered the Planeptune police car, taking the keys from one of the guard's bodies. They drove off, leaving Wallace and the others in silence.

Neptune broke the silence. "I know this is a tense situation, but can someone take the bullets out of my knees? They're starting to really hurt."

Compa walked over and pulled out her nursing toolkit, and Wallace moved to unbind IF. Once that was done, everyone sat down at the table, attempting to further understand what was going on.

IF began, "So Raven bullied you in school, and that lead you to kill his parents. What's the part we don't know?"

Wallace gave a hollow smile. "Good assumption, agent." He sighed deeply before he continued, "What Raven didn't tell you is that my parents left me from a very young age. I was an adopted child for most of my life. I guess I just wanted something to make me happy, even for a short time. I did all sorts of illegal things—theft, underaged smoking and drinking, and more things than I can count. Eventually, it all just culminated in that murder."

Neptune slumped in her chair. "Then, how did you become an officer? Don't people normally serve huge sentences for that stuff?"

He shook his head. "Both Raven and I grew up in Leanbox. Their laws on murder, combined with the fact that I was a minor at the time, gave me a lighter sentence. I was in jail for twenty years." He rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner."

IF shook her head. "That's fine. My allegiances haven't changed or anything." She turned to Neptune. "By the way, where's Gear? I haven't seen her at all since we got here."

Neptune looked away. "She's still at the Basilicom. Knowing her, she's probably worried sick right now."

Wallace's phone rang loudly. He looked at the screen, and promptly picked it up. "High Chief Stone, ma'am."

On the other end, Stone heaved a sigh of relief. "Good, you're alright. I can only presume that you're in Planeptune."

Wallace nodded. "That's right. Raven got us with that diversion. He tried to kill Compa, but we got here just in time."

"Good, good. Is there anything else? Did the CPU or CPU Candidate get involved in any way? Are both IF and Compa okay?"

"Yes, ma'am. The goddess did get involved, and is here with me now. IF and Compa are alright, but a little shaken up."

"Good. I expect a full report when you get back. Before I forget, did the Planeptune police get involved in this?"

Wallace looked at the two corpses of the Planeptune officers and grimaced. "They did, but the ones with me were taken out by Raven's thugs. We can expect full assistance from them in the future thanks to this." He took out a notepad and reviewed it before continuing, "I also ordered the other officers with me to pan around the nation and share intel with the officers here."

Stone chuckled. "Good work, officer." She hung up the phone.

Wallace looked at the three girls. "You've now got a choice to make. Will you come with me to Lastation and report to High Chief Stone, or will you stay here and accompany Lady Neptune back to the Basilicom?" He looked at IF and Compa in particular. "I understand that you three are close friends, so please take your time in this decision."

IF thought for a moment before deciding. "It's been a while since I've seen Gear, but we have to take care of this case first. I'm coming with you, Chief."

Compa walked over and stood next to IF. "I'm going, too."

Neptune looked around for a moment. "Oogh…I don't know what to do! Nep Jr's waiting for me, but…Iffy and Compa are going over to Lastation." She put her hands to her head and attempted to process her dilemma.

Chief Wallace stood up. "I don't mean to rush you, Lady Neptune, but we have to act quickly. The time we spend here is time the Black Feathers are using to create chaos."

"I've got it! I'll go with you to Lastation and call Nepgear along the way! That'll take care of everything."

IF tilted her head in uncertainty. "You sure, Nep? Knowing her, she'll do something risky to try and help you. With the Anti-Shares still part of the equation, that's dangerous."

Neptune shrank back into her chair. "I wanna say something, but…I know you're right. What do I do…?"

Wallace turned to leave. "Well, I'll be going with IF and Compa back to Lastation. This is your last chance. If you don't make a choice here, I'll assume you're returning to the Basilicom."

Neptune stood up. "I'm going back to the Basilicom. I'll try and meet up with you after that." Neptune ran out of the room.

The Chief gestured for IF and Compa to follow him. They did so, and entered the car he had previously taken after about a ten minute's walk. The drive was silent, but one thing was certain—the fate of the Black Feathers would be decided in the coming days.

AN: This chapter was kinda filler, wasn't it? I'll make it up to you by doing a double upload. Chapter 11 will come out today as well (I've actually written up to chapter 12, so this is no problem).


	11. A Dance With Death

Wallace, IF, and Compa were all in a police car bound to Lastation, on their way to report to High Chief Stone about the happenings in Planeptune. The drive was rather quiet, and without much traffic to congest the road between nations, it was also a rather brief journey. They got through the border without much difficulty, and all was going well.

As if to purposely disrupt the tranquility, three cars drove behind them, attempting to get in line with Wallace's. In all of them, the front passenger window was rolled down, revealing a Black Feather with their guns ready. To make matters worse, the back passenger windows were also open and had the same sight behind them.

Wallace pumped the gas pedal as hard as he could. "Hold on, you two!" He took a sharp turn, and a chase ensued.

IF rolled down her window and drew her weapon, attempting to aim at the cars behind them. Due to the speed of the chase, though, precise aiming was almost impossible, and bullets flew past her without ever having neared her. She ejected her empty magazine and deposited it into the road, but patted herself down and noticed she only had one remaining. If she were to run out of ammunition soon, it would surely spell disaster for the three of them.

"Wallace! You got any spare ammo?!"

Wallace attempted to drive with only one hand to grab his ammo, but doing so caused the car to move in wild patterns. When he finally did grab his magazines, they were completely off track from the main police station.

"I've got a lot. You'd better make it worthwhile, agent!"

IF loaded her gun quickly and stuck her head back out the window. "Yeah, I got it!"

The exchange of bullets continued, neither party landing any substantial hits on the other. After about a minute, Wallace looked at his gasoline meter and noticed it was only about half full.

He turned to IF, but in that brief moment where his eyes were off of the road, the car veered onto the pavement and bounced everyone off of their seats. "AIM FOR THE DRIVER!"

IF fired a few more shots. "I'M TRYING!!" She managed to hit the front left tire of one of the cars, grinding it to a stop and forcing its denizens to exit and run into the alleyways.

Wallace threw the steering wheel to the right, throwing off their pursuers temporarily. "THEN TRY HARDER, DAMNIT!" By now, his proximity to IF's gun had severely damaged his hearing. While he was not completely deaf, the only sounds he could hear were the screeching of the car wheels and the rapid gunshots to his right.

A bullet pierced through the middle of the back window and flew straight through the windshield, spraying shattered glass throughout the inside of the car. Compa, who was in the backseat, threw her hands over her head to brace herself, sustaining some cuts on her exposed arms. IF shot a glance her way, but when she was satisfied that her injuries were minimal, she continued to fire upon the Black Feathers.

Due to his lack of clear hearing, Wallace was shouting. "HOW MANY MORE MAGS, AGENT?!"

IF did not bother to look and merely offered a guess. "Five!"

The car veered to the right once more, throwing everyone off balance. IF's right shoulder was thrown into the roof of the car, causing her to groan in pain. While not broken, this was only a hindrance to her capabilities.

Wallace pulled IF into the seat and placed her left hand on the wheel. "TAKE THE WHEEL; I'LL SHOOT!"

In their position, she could not protest. Wallace crawled into her seat and IF crawled into his, taking the wheel and struggling to regain control of the car. Even in that short moment of passing the wheel, she and her pursuers had driven into a residential area and were barely able to squeeze into the narrower roads. Unfortunately, being here meant that Wallace could not shoot, for doing so would risk harming civilians.

Wallace yelled out, "GET OUT OF HERE! PULL US BACK ONTO THE ROAD!"

IF did so, and within a few moments, the high-speed firefight was back in session. Bullets flew from car to car, rarely ever hitting anything. Wallace had just barely managed to position a shot to pierce a car's hood and damage the engine, causing the car to lose power and veer uncontrollably into the sidewalk. Similarly, Wallace had had his cheeks and hands grazed by bullets, and the high-speed wind entering these wounds was doing his stability no favors.

Wallace pulled himself back into the car to recuperate. IF asked, "Where are we trying to go?"

"Anywhere where bullets aren't flying at us. Can you do that, agent?"

She pushed the gas pedal onto the floor. "I can try!"

The Chief turned back towards Compa. "Do you have any bandages?"

In a hurry, Compa messily grabbed a roll of bandages and handed it to him. Due to the speeds they were traveling at, applying the bandages neatly would have been impossible, but Wallace did an especially poor job. He essentially wrapped bandages around his entire face apart from his eyes, nose, and mouth—a performance even worse than Compa's entry level acts.

No matter how pretty it looked, this dressing allowed Wallace to resume shooting, but when he poked his head out the window, he saw something disturbing. Previously, there had only been one of the three cars remaining, but two more had taken the ruined ones' place. In that moment, it seemed as though they would never escape from the Black Feathers.

Wallace attempted to fire, but the only response was a quiet click. He tried again, and achieved the same result. He ejected the empty magazine and reached to load a new one, but found that he was out.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Well, agent, looks like this is the end." He faced her and smiled. "We had a damn good run."

IF was still determined. "I've got a quarter tank of gas left! We're not going down until that hits zero!"

Wallace paused for a moment, but then nodded in determination. "Well done, agent."

The chase continued, with IF attempting to outmaneuver her pursuers by suddenly turning into narrow streets or swerving into wide highways and abruptly changing lanes. Despite her best efforts, though, the engine began to sputter and the car began to slow as the gasoline in the tank slowly dwindled. Eventually, the car slowed to a stop in the middle of a highway, and behind them, the Black Feathers got out of their cars.

IF leaned back in her seat. "Well, guess that's that." She turned to face Compa, who had barely managed to remain awake amidst the chaos. "How are you feeling, Compa?"

She was holding back tears. "Iffy…I'm scared…"

IF crawled into the backseat and hugged her. "Don't worry, Compa. I am too."

There was a loud explosion, and a car erupted into flames.


	12. The Tables Turn

The Black Feathers' cars went up in flames as anti-armor warheads impacted their hoods, exploding the engines and gas tanks. A storm of bullets flew from behind them into the cars, killing or immobilizing most of the Black Feathers.

IF was stunned for a moment, but then rolled down the back window to see what was happening. Outside, APCs and light vehicles dropped off Lastation army soldiers. A police car drove over to them, and from it emerged High Chief Stone.

"Agent IF! Thank goodness you're alright!"

The agent slowly got out of the car, still slightly stunned from the sudden appearance of the army. "Yeah, but…why is the army here?"

Stone looked around proudly. "I talked with Lady Noire and Lady Uni, and managed to convince them to mobilize the army. If you look to the west, you should…"

Stone was no longer audible. From the west, a line of helicopters, numbering about ten, were descending into Lastation. They had a color palette almost identical to the police cars from Planeptune, purple stripes running down a black chassis.

Behind her, Compa and Chief Wallace emerged from the car. Upon seeing him, Stone patted Wallace on the back. "Apparently, your boys in Planeptune alerted the goddess and convinced her to mobilize parts of her army. That was a good move, agent."

"EXCUSE ME?" Wallace's hearing was still damaged from the gunfire, and also from the explosion.

Stone laughed and raised her hand. She used sign language and repeated herself, to which Wallace nodded.

Compa flew into IF for a hug, almost tackling her to the ground. She spoke between sobs, "Iffy…that was so scary…"

IF patted her on the back in reassurance. "It's alright, Compa. We're alright now."

Once the affectionate embrace had ended, Stone walked over to Compa and extended her hand. "I'm High Chief Stone of the Lastation police. You can just call me Stone. You're Compa, right?"

Compa shook her hand, and experienced the same pain IF did. She recoiled, and in between grimaces of pain, she spoke, "Yep…I'm Compa…nice to meet…you…ma'am…ouch!"

Stone laughed. "Sorry, sorry. I've been told that I give…firm handshakes." She cleared her throat. "Anyways, are you Agent IF's girlfriend?"

The two of them were flustered, unsure of how to respond. They looked at each other, and then to the floor, and this uncomfortable pattern continued until Wallace spoke to Stone in sign language, "I think that means yes."

She slapped her knees in laughter. "Well, it's alright either way. It's just good to see that both of you are okay."

IF gladly accepted the change of topic. "So, do we have any idea where the Black Feathers are? Dragging the armies of two nations out here would be a waste if we didn't know where to go."

Stone nodded. "We have some guesses, but to be sure, we'll have to scan the entire city thoroughly. It's unfortunate, but…"

A soldier walked over to Stone before she could finish. "Ma'am, we found this map in one of the intact Black Feather cars. It's got a circle around this area."

Stone took the map. "Very good, soldier. Looks like…what the?!"

IF and Wallace looked at the map from over her shoulder. "It's…the circle's around the Basilicom!"

Wallace took a step back and shook his head. "There's no way they'd operate from within the building. They're probably underground, in some secret or ancient tunnel."

The soldier took the map, folded it, and placed it under his arm. "But if that's the case, how are we supposed to get there without destroying the foundations of the Basilicom?"

Stone thought for a moment. "Well, they'd have to have had some way to get there in the first place. Why don't we ask Lady Noire? I'm sure she'd know."

Wallace pulled out his phone. "I can call her. It'll be faster." He dialed the number and put it to his ear.

After a moment, Noire was heard on the other end. "Chief Wallace. It's unusual to get a call from you. Normally, you'd be in my office raising hell already."

He did not take this well. "Is there any way that a group of undesirables could gain access to the Basilicom and then go underground from there?"

Noire was stunned. "I, uh…what's the question for?"

Stone snatched the phone from his hand. "This is High Chief Stone, ma'am. We ask because one of your soldiers found a map in one of the Black Feathers' cars with a circle around the Basilicom."

Noire thought for a moment. "There…is a place underneath the Basilicom. It's a treasury, War Council room, and prison. But, they wouldn't be able to get past the front door!"

IF gestured for the phone, and Stone handed it to her. "Is it possible that, like the Leanbox police, the guards were paid off to ignore their entrance? It's a common tactic for underground criminals."

She audibly growled. "Well, if that's the case, I'm going to be firing a good number of our guards! Anyways, why don't you all come to the Basilicom? It'll be easier to talk about this there."

"Sure thing. We'll meet you in twenty minutes."

Noire hung up without reply. IF handed the phone back to Wallace, and he swiftly stuffed it into his breast pocket. The soldiers formed a perimeter around the street, blocking vehicular traffic and fortifying the area in case of a firefight.

Stone gestured towards her car. "Well, it's rude to keep a goddess waiting. Why don't we head there now? We can get you resupplied shortly after."

Everyone agreed, and they were on their way to the Basilicom. Compared to the drive from earlier, this journey was completely uneventful, the only remarkable sights being the occasional movement of soldiers and the flight of helicopters to and from Planeptune.

After about ten minutes, the car stopped and Stone removed the keys. "Alright everyone, get ready. I'm sure Lady Noire will try and squeeze all of the information she can out of us."

They walked into the building and were allowed in without difficulty. IF looked around to try and see any unusual things about the main lobby, but she could not seem to notice anything. Stone called an elevator, and as they waited, IF turned to Wallace.

"Have you noticed anything…off…about this room?"

Wallace shook his head. "I can't see anything out of the ordinary. We'll just have to wait and see what Lady Noire offers us."

IF nodded, and the elevator opened for them. Upon entering, she noticed that there was no button to lead to any lower floor, and that the lobby was the lowest one listed. After thinking about this for some time, she decided that access to the lower floors would likely be restricted to trusted people only, and the elevator would be placed in the atrium.

Upon their arrival, Noire set down a document and stood up from her chair. Wallace and Stone removed their headgear and bowed their head, and IF nervously followed along.

"So, you mentioned that there was a circle around the Basilicom. Is there anything else that points to their base being underneath this building?"

There was a moment of silence before Wallace began, "No, but it seems unlikely that this would be a trap. Those Black Feathers attacked us with killing intent, so it's unlikely that they planned on us winning and taking that map."

Noire nodded. "Well, do you have the map with you now?"

The four looked around their group uneasily. IF spoke up. "The truth is, Lady Black Heart, that one of the soldiers on the site took it. You'd have to ask him."

A guard walked up the stairs. He removed his cap and bowed the same way Wallace and Stone did as he approached Noire. "Lady Black Heart, I couldn't help but overhear your struggles. Perhaps I may lend assistance?"

She looked at him intently. "What's your name?"

The guard put his cap back on and adjusted his uniform. "Lewis."


	13. Under Siege

Lewis adjusted his cap once more and spoke up, "I recently got some intel on the Black Feathers that should prove useful." He cleared his throat and continued, "For starters, their base is underneath the Basilicom."

Stone nodded. "So, that map in the car wasn't a trap. But, Lady Noire mentioned to us that the only things there were a treasury, a war council room, and a prison. Why would they choose that place? Also, how would they escape detection?"

"I don't know, but is it possible they were trying to 'hide in plain sight'? If I'm correct, the war council room hasn't been used in quite some time, and crime outside of the Black Feathers is almost non-existent these days."

Noire confirmed this statement. "The war council room hasn't been used in at least three decades. And you're right—the Black Feathers seem to hold a monopoly on crime in recent days."

Stone jotted some things down onto her notepad. "Lady Noire, has Lastation experienced a loss to its economy? As in, the money just seems to disappear?"

She put her hand to her chin. "Now that you mention it, the treasury had been depleting slowly for a while. I chocked it up to improper counting, but if the Black Feathers have been down there, it'd make more sense."

Lewis gestured towards the elevator. "Then, shall we proceed? We know where they are, so we can take proper action now."

Wallace held up his hand. "Wait a moment. I'd like to ask for assistance from the army."

A group of five soldiers walked up the stairs. The one in the lead, a middle aged man who appeared to only have shaved obligatorily, approached to Wallace. "We've been given orders to assist you in the attack on the Black Feathers. We're ready when you are."

Noire moved to join them, but Lewis gestured for her to remain. "Lady Black Heart, remember that they still have Anti-Shares. If you were hit and, perish the thought, killed, the nation would spiral into chaos. I must ask that you remain here."

She silently relented. Although she could not pinpoint the exact cause, something about this scenario felt suspicious to IF. The agent clutched her weapon tightly and stood in front of Compa, as if to shield her from the danger that wasn't there. Lewis called the elevator, and the room was filled with a tense silence as they waited. The seconds felt like minutes, and beads of sweat began to drip down IF's forehead, despite the fact that nothing of note had occurred yet.

After what felt like hours, the elevator door opened. Stone was the first to enter, and Lewis was the last. He said, "That's everyone. Are we ready?"

Everyone nodded firmly, and Lewis pressed the button for the lowest floor, labeled 'WC/P'. The elevator began a smooth descent, and all the while, smooth jazz was being played throughout the cab. The ride was only about five minutes, and when the door was opened, the group was blasted by a wave of cool air and the scent of old parchment.

Immediately, IF noticed that the lights were on. If what Noire said was true and the room had been unused for over thirty years, the lights would presumably be off. She looked around the room and noticed that there were also no cobwebs or other signs of decay, and she came to the conclusion that the space was indeed in use.

Wallace and IF turned to each other at the same time. They seemed to recognize that they were both thinking of the same thing, and both got lower to the ground and slowed their step. Lewis, who had been in front of the group, turned around and looked at IF and Wallace.

"Why are you…oh, my apologies. I'm sure it's police instinct to be ready for anything." He turned to face forward again, and keep walking.

IF walked forward to Stone and whispered in her ear, "Does something seem suspicious about Lewis?"

Stone thought for a moment, then nodded. "He had more intel than the other guards, and it'd also be Basilicom Guard instinct to be 'ready for anything'. Be ready to fire upon him."

The agent nodded, and the group was silent for a few minutes after that. As they walked, they failed to encounter anyone, and were led to believe that this was a cold lead. Lewis turned around to face them.

"My apologies, everyone. It appears as though I was mislead." He attempted to walk back towards the elevator, but was stopped by IF and High Chief Stone.

"Put your hands up!" They both had their guns pointed at him. He had no choice but to throw his hands up.

"W-woah! What's going on here?" Lewis seemed confused.

IF spoke first. "You've been very suspicious. Not only did you know about this when none of the other guards did, you also seemed to forget that you were a Basilicom Guard when you mentioned 'police instinct'!"

Stone took a step forward. "Be honest, 'Lewis'…are you a Black Feather?!"

Lewis was unfazed. "I guess I shoulda expected this outta two o' tha fuzz. Good catch, dolls." He chuckled. "Well, even if ya kill me now, it ain't gonna change nothin'."

Stone shook her head. "Bullshit." She shot him in the chest three times, spraying blood behind him and dropping Lewis to the ground, the only sound following this being the metallic clang from the ejected cartridges hitting the ground.

Wallace beckoned for everyone to return to the elevator. "Let's go, let's go! We're wasting time down here!"

Everyone ran back to the elevator, but when IF pressed the call button, it simply lit up and asked her to wait patiently for the next lift. She slammed her hand on the button panel. "Damnit! They're at the Basilicom already!"

Stone exhibited similar frustration. "Those clever bastards…to think we would get fooled by a fake guard!"

Tension filled the room as everyone pensively waited for the elevator to arrive. IF could only imagine what was happening in the atrium, and she shuddered upon thinking it. Eventually, when the elevator arrived and everyone got in, Stone spoke up.

"Alright, everyone. I'm sure the soldiers are already prepared for this, but be ready to fire as soon as the door opens. We have no idea what could be on the other side."

IF nodded and, remembering Compa was with her, walked in front of her. "Stay behind me, Compa. You don't have a gun, and you could get hurt if a firefight broke out."

She obliged, albeit with a dreadful feeling of anxiety. "Please don't get yourself hurt, Iffy. I still want to ask all about what you did in Lastation without me."

IF put her hand on Compa's shoulder, fiery determination in her eyes. "I have something I want to tell you, too." There was a pause before she continued, "It's a promise, Compa. I'll come back to you. You don't have to worry."

She was uncertain. "Are you s-sure?"

The agent nodded. "I just promised, didn't I? Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

IF removed her hand from Compa's shoulder and turned around, only to have the nurse place her hand on her shoulder in return. She assumed that Compa wanted a sense of security, and she had to oblige. The agent relaxed her shoulders and stretched, ready for whatever lay on the other side of the elevator.

The door opened at the Basilicom Ground Floor, and for some reason, the room was dreadfully cold.


	14. Sacrifice

In the main lobby lay the corpses of several Basilicom Guards and Black Feathers. Their blood stained the walls and splattered across the ground, forming outlines around their collapsed figures. IF looked to the left, and noticed that bloody footprints spiraled up the staircase leading to the higher floors. One of the soldiers took out his radio and requested reinforcements from his squad, an action that was very much appreciated by the rest of the group.

IF walked to one of the fallen Black Feathers and grabbed his gun. She checked for ammunition, and when she found that the drum magazine was almost completely full, she handed it to Compa. "Stay close to me, and get to cover if a fight breaks out. Keep this with you if you have to defend yourself."

Compa hesitated, prompting IF to push it into her hands and force her to accept it. "F-fine."

The agent placed her hand on Compa's shoulder once again. "It'll be fine, Compa. Don't you remember our promise?"

Stone gestured for the group to move up the stairs. "We're wasting time here. Let's go!"

Everyone ran up the stairs, noticing occasional smears of blood along the walls. Additionally, there were corpses littering the staircase, mostly belonging to the Black Feathers.

Wallace held his gun close to his chest. I guess this was their last gasp, wasn't it? After attacking police out in the daylight like that, they lost most of their options."

The group reached the first floor, and immediately noticed that there was a large groups of dead Basilicom Guards. Stone shuddered upon seeing the corpses, having to rub her eyes and turn around to clear the image from her mind. She walked over to the elevator and called it, but the voice that played back was overcome by static and screeching was heard from within.

IF walked towards the next flight of stairs. "I guess they managed to cut off the elevators. We'll just have to walk."

Wishing to not waste time, everyone followed her lead up the next flight of stairs, where they were met with three Black Feathers. At first, they failed to notice their group, allowing them to dive to cover. Once they were heard, though, a flurry of bullets flew over their heads and impacted the walls of the staircase. An overturned desk and a few chairs had served as their cover, and they were almost immediately shredded by the Black Feathers' gunfire.

Stone reached into her breast pocket and pulled the pin on a canister. "I'm throwing a smoke! Move on my signal!"

Everyone nodded, and IF took hold of Compa's sleeve. The smoke bomb was thrown, and the next seconds seemed to pass agonizingly slowly, as bullets continued to pierce through their cover, nicking their clothes and hair. Eventually, a cloud of thick smoke filled the room and eliminated any chances of precision, allowing Stone's group to move forward.

"Move! Move! Let's go!" Stone's voice and footsteps were heard as she rushed forward through the smoke. IF, who was still clutching Compa's sleeve, dove down behind a leather sofa she had seen before the smokescreen.

Once the smoke settled, the firefight commenced once again. Stone poked her head above a similar couch and fired a few shots, striking one of the Black Feathers in the neck and dropping him instantly. The shock of this allowed Wallace to follow up and shoot the second five times in the chest, although he was dead after the first. The third Black Feather threw up his hands in surrender, dropping his gun to the ground.

Wallace walked forward, bringing his face mere inches apart from the criminal's. "How do we handle him, High Chief Stone?"

Stone's response was immediate. "It's simple. Just move out of the way." Wallace did so, and Stone shot the criminal in the chest, forming a pool of blood underneath his resting place. "Can't risk him calling for any reinforcements."

Without reply, the group moved to the next floor, and Compa was beginning to grow tired. "How…many floors, Iffy?"

IF looked at the building's floor plan, posted on the wall. As she looked at it, she grimaced. "We're on the third floor now, so there's…27 more."

Stone ran up the stairs, and everyone had to follow suit. "If there's 27 more floors, we can't be wasting time on these lower ones. We have to make haste!"

Everyone agreed. Once they reached the sixth floor, IF decided to try and call the elevator on a whim. To her surprise, it opened, and everyone clamored in.

Wallace pressed the button labeled 'A'. "Our first priority is the Atrium, which is where Lady Noire and Lady Uni would be. We can work our way down from there."

Their ascent continued for a while, but IF noticed that the cab began to slow down on their approach to the twenty-sixth floor. "Looks like they called it. Everyone, get ready!"

The door opened, and an almost instantaneous exchange of bullets took the lives of all soldiers in the cab and three Black Feathers. A stray bullet had also struck Stone in the arm, causing it to drip blood within the cab. She clutched her wound to stop unnecessary bleeding, and grimaced in pain as they called the elevator back towards the atrium.

Wallace walked over to her. "Are you alright?"

She chuckled. "Obviously not." Wallace helped stabilize her, and when the elevator beeped indicating their arrival, she smiled. "Alright, let's go."

They walked out and stepped into the wide room, ravaged by the Black Feathers' attack. There was still one more flight of stairs to climb before they reached the level where Noire and Uni were, but seeing as how there were no Black Feathers on this floor that they could see, all seemed well.

Stone pointed towards the last flight of stairs with her uninjured arm. "That's our destination. Is everyone..."

She was cut short by a sudden burst of gunfire that took everyone by surprise. Three bullets lodged themselves in the wall behind them, and another took place in Wallace's left shoulder. He dropped to his knees in pain, and managed to crawl to cover to try and tend to his wounds.

IF took place next to him, and Compa followed suit. Wallace looked at Compa pleadingly. "Have you still got bandages?"

Compa checked her pockets and every conceivable place she could have them, but she turned out empty. "I guess you u-used them all back in the car."

Wallace attempted to calm her. "Don't worry. I should be fine, if I can still aim."

IF gestured for him to stay still. "I'll take over. You just try and stop the bleeding on that wound."

Wallace nodded and IF looked out into the room, noticing that Stone was on the far side, attempting to shoot the opposing Black Feathers from behind cover. Her gun clicked, and she ejected the magazine only to find that she had none remaining. IF tried to pass one to her, but Stone shook her head.

"You need to keep that, agent. I'll flush them out, and you take care of them." She brandished a combat knife from one of her uniform's pockets.

IF vehemently wanted to protest, but it was too late. Stone ducked and weaved in and out of cover, her approach forcing the Black Feathers to move. IF shot down two of them, but the third fired in retaliation, forcing her to duck down once more. She heard further gunfire, and could only expect the worst.

Taking a risk, IF jumped over her cover and saw the position of the last Black Feather. Once she made contact with the ground again, she rushed up to his position and, before he could react, brought her gun swiftly down onto his head, and a sickly crack told her that he was dead. IF sighed and stepped over the thug's piece of cover, a loveseat, and what she saw next made her pale in the face.

"..! S-Stone!" Sure to her expectations, a pool of blood had formed underneath Stone's body as she lay motionless.


	15. Confronting Raven

Wallace and Compa crawled out from their cover and walked over to IF. They noticed Stone's body, and Wallace lowered his head in respect. The next moments crawled by as an unbearable sorrow filled the room.

Eventually, Wallace raised his head again and broke the silence. "Stone was a fantastic policewoman, but more importantly, she was an amazing person." He clenched his right, uninjured fist. "That's why we have to finish this job. I'm counting on the two of you."

IF nodded in agreement and looked at Compa. "Are you doing alright? This has been a lot to handle."

"I think I'm okay. I just wish I could help these people."

IF shook her head. "Really, it's not your fault. We can at least make it up to them by taking out the Black Feathers."

Wallace placed his right hand on his wounded shoulder again. "Exactly. Let's move."

The three climbed the stairs to the goddesses' office, and noticed immediately that the area was in utter disarray. Tables were overturned and papers were scattered across the floor, implying that the Black Feathers had already made their move.

IF scanned the room, gun close to her chest. "A bomb could go off in here and no one would be the wiser."

Wallace, who was still clutching his shoulder, agreed. "This doesn't look good. Lady Noire and Lady Uni are both extremely organized. For the area to be in this much disarray…it's likely that they had a run-in with the enemy."

A dreadful minute passed before IF turned back around to face Wallace. "It doesn't look like they're in here. Where else can we look?"

The chief walked over to the right wall. "Not so fast, agent." He opened a filing cabinet and reached in. Upon pressing a hidden button, the wall began to open and reveal a storage room. "The higher-ups at the police were given knowledge of this storage area. If they were cornered, Lady Noire and Lady Uni could have tried to escape here."

The three walked in slowly, with Wallace holding a flashlight to illuminate the rather dark room. It was cold, but not intolerably so. The main thing that set IF on edge was the lack of light—if an enemy was in the room, she would have no way of knowing. On top of that, the room was eerily quiet, the only sounds propagating within being their footsteps and a single, quiet ventilation system humming above the door from which they entered.

"Have you seen anything yet, Chief?"

Wallace, thinking he had heard movement, quickly shined the beam of his flashlight to the right, but the only thing revealed by this was a pile of dust. "So far, no. What about you?"

IF shook her head. "Nothing. I'm starting to think there's nothing in here at all."

The chief held up his finger, gesturing for her to be silent. "Come look at this."

IF and Compa both obliged. Wallace shone his flashlight at the juncture of the wall and the floor, and there was a drop of blood. "It's still liquid, so this can't be old." He moved the beam of light forward, and noticed that the blood droplet was not alone—many more like it formed a trail, leading towards a hydraulic door. "Let's follow this trail, everyone. This is our first, and only, lead."

Everyone slowly followed the trail, ready to defend themselves at any moment. They neared the door, and Wallace hovered his hand over the release button. "Brace yourselves, you two. Who knows what we'll find on the other side of this door."

IF and Compa nodded, and the agent took a step closer to her fearful nurse friend. Wallace forcefully pressed the button, and after he did so, he put away his flashlight and brandished a pistol from his uniform. The door opened, and IF noticed that there was no dust or cobwebs around it, implying that someone had used it recently.

Wallace emptied a bullet from his gun and tossed it into the room ahead. After a few seconds of silence, he whispered, "Alright. Let's move."

They did so, and Wallace recovered his bullet upon entering. The space they had just entered was incredibly large, with huge shelves holding dozens of containers lining the walls and forming a maze in front of them. The floor and ceiling were a monochrome gray, contrasting starkly with the black shelves and containers.

IF faced Compa. "Stay close to me. It'll be easy to get lost in here."

Wallace nodded. "That's right. That's the most important rule of squad work. I'll lead."

The three moved slowly, doing their best to limit the sound of their footsteps. This room was terrifyingly quiet, lacking any sound apart for the echoing of footsteps and the ventilation from the corridor leading in. After about five minutes, Wallace heard a tapping sound and began to follow it, with IF and Compa following close behind. The tapping seemed to follow a song-like rhythm, fluctuating and changing as it continued.

Wallace grimaced. "It's Raven."

IF was confused. "Hold on, how do you know that? Don't tell me you got that from this sound."

He shook his head. "That's the beat to a funeral march. It was played at the funeral for Raven's parents." Wallace shuddered. "After that funeral, he became obsessed with the song, and it's important to him. It's not likely that he would have shared the tune with another Black Feather."

The two girls paused for a moment, prompting Wallace to usher them to continue. "We can't dote on the details now. Our target is right in front of us."

They agreed, although hesitantly. They readied themselves, and followed the sound to its source. After about two minutes, they found Raven leaning on a wall, holding his revolver in one hand and a cigarette in the other. "I was wonderin' when you would show up. Took ya long enough."

IF raised her gun, pointing it level to Raven's chest. "This is the end, Raven!"

He merely chuckled and took a huff from his cigarette. "You sure, doll? I think yer forgettin' somethin' very…important." He pointed to a container on the bottom of one of the shelves. "Open it."

Wallace snapped. "This is obviously a trap, Raven! I'm not just going to open it because you told me to!"

Raven adjusted his hat and took another huff from his cigarette. "I swear on my…uh…" He pondered for a moment. "Got it! I swear on this here cig that I'm tellin' the truth. You can trust that, right?"

Wallace hesitantly walked over and unlatched the container. With a heave, he opened the lid, and his eyes widened in terror.

Raven cackled. "Speechless, Wallace? You two dolls better come get a look-see."

IF and Compa walked over, and had a reaction similar to Wallace's. Within the container were Noire and Uni, both with an Anti-Share bullet tied to their necks by a string. It appeared as though they had also been shot with such Anti-Share bullets in the knees, further limiting their power. To make matters worse, their hands were tied behind their back, and gunpowder filled the container up to their ankles.

IF shook Noire furiously. "Lady Noire! Lady Noire!"

Raven took another huff from his cigarette. "Don' worry, doll. They're alive, least they were last I checked. They kept noddin' off, so eventually I just put 'em in there and let 'em sleep."

Wallace heaved a sigh of relief. He attempted to remove the Anti-Share bullets, but he heard the barrel of Raven's barrel spin behind him. "Now, why would ya try an' do that? I went through a lotta work to get 'em in there."

Compa looked at the two goddesses, then back to Raven. "Why would…why would you do this?"

Raven took off his hat and flipped it in his hands. "Why? Well, that there's an interestin' question.


	16. Announcement

So I know that there aren't many of you reading this story to be disappointed at this, but I'm going on a short break for now. Since I don't want to feel too bad about this, I'll just do this in a 'QA' format.

Why am I going on a break?

To put it simply, I need time to figure out where the story will go next, and to make sure everything works out. In addition, I'm not used to juggling two projects (On the Streets and A New Utopia) and have always preferred to put my all into one project. That's what I did with Imagine Utopia, and for a first story, it wasn't awful (at least, I don't think so). For now, I'll be updating A New Utopia more regularly and will come back to this story when the time comes.

When will the break end?

I don't know. It may last a few days, or a week, or multiple. I doubt it will last more than a month, and I will aspire to make it as short as possible. That said, to those out there who are following this story (a.k.a, like two people), feel free to send me a PM after about two weeks if I still haven't returned to the story.

Will the wait be worth it?

I certainly hope so. Since I'm not you, I can't decide that, but I'll try and give you a climactic ending while still keeping the story grounded, since that was the whole reason I wrote it. Fun fact, I only had the first three chapters planned out, like, ever. Everything else just flowed out and happened. I guess that worked, though, since my main man (or lady, I guess, since I recently learned that she's female [yes, I just assumed your gender]) Jerzu seems to really enjoy this story.

Anyways, that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll see you soon with another update to this story!


	17. Discontinuation Notice

I'm writing this to tell you that this story has been discontinued.

I can hear you asking: "But why?" The answer, my friend, is simple.

There just wasn't a direction to this thing. Like, at all. I focused too much on the action and didn't bother to see if it still made sense, and that put me into a corner. Things just kept happening and happening, and eventually I ran into two main problems.

1). Things just didn't make sense. How would a bunch of (seemingly) unorganized gang members outmaneuver the police? Also, why did Raven keep wasting opportunities to kill the one person who presented the greatest obstacle for him?

2). Things got boring, and quick. I think Jerzu said it best. Plot twists are a handy device that make things exciting, if you do them correctly. Unfortunately, I did too many too quickly, and it took away from the punch of the whole thing.

In hindsight, it'd have been better to take more time in writing, and possibly get a beta reader. It'd have helped quite a lot, in that I could have the beta reader warn me, "Hey idiot, this stuff doesn't make sense and it's getting kinda repetitive". If I do another story like this, I'll try to make it better as a reward for dealing with this prototype.

Sincerely,

The Lost Hokage


End file.
